A pair of bull moose are seen near Brainard Lake in Boulder County last June. The county's Planning Commission is considering adding language about protecting the "rights of nature" into the Boulder County Comprehensive Plan. (Jeremy Papasso / Daily Camera)

Environmental activists and wildlife preservation advocates are a step closer to getting a "rights of nature" concept written into the Boulder County Comprehensive Plan.

Boulder County Planning Commission members agreed Wednesday night on a thus-far-unofficial comprehensive plan addition declaring county government's responsibility to support the continued existence of all of the county's "naturally occurring ecosystems and their native species populations."

That statement, based on a proposal submitted by the Audubon Society of Boulder County, might not go far enough to satisfy some of the people who have been pushing for more than a year to have Boulder County declare that plants and animals have certain legal rights.

It doesn't actually include the phrase "rights of nature," for example.

It may still go too far, though, for some foes of the "rights of nature" movement, including people who warn that writing such a policy into an official government document would give plants and wildlife the same legal standing as human beings.

Planning commissioners heard from residents on both sides of the rights-of-nature controversy Wednesday night, when nearly 30 people spoke during a public hearing on the issue of whether such a concept should be included in the comprehensive plan.

Rights of Nature

In June, the Boulder County Planning Commission is expected to consider inserting a new paragraph into the Environmental Resources section of the Boulder County Comprehensive Plan. A preliminary version of that new language — based the planning panel members' discussion during a meeting on Wednesday night — reads:

"Acknowledging our responsibility to ensure that all naturally occurring ecosystems and their native species populations continue to exist and flourish in Boulder County, we will develop conservation and recovery plans for priority species of special concern listed as 'imperiled' or 'extirpated' in the Environmental Resources Element."

The comprehensive plan, among its other functions, lists goals and policies that theoretically are supposed to guide Boulder County officials' decisions about land uses, growth and development in unincorporated areas.

"We are a part of nature, not apart from nature," said Dale Ball, a member of the Boulder Rights of Nature board.

"We wouldn't think of our children as property to exploit," Boulder resident James Duncan told the planning commissioners. "Nor should we think that way of nature."

Steve Jones, president of the Boulder County Audubon Society, listed a number of bird and mammals that no longer can be found in Boulder County and warned that "we're seeing the collapse of a whole ecosystem."

Jones said the comprehensive plan should at least include a county government commitment to developing plans for conserving and recovering locally threatened species.

'We humans have rights, too'

However, opponents of putting such statements in the comprehensive plan objected that it could lead to local ordinances, prosecutions and lawsuits targeting people accused of violating the rights of animals and plants native to Boulder County.

"Mosquitoes. Are we going to let them flourish?" asked Longmont-area resident Walt Engelhardt.

"We humans have rights, too, to protect ourselves from harmful insects, bugs, weeds and pests," Engelhardt told the planning panel. "What would happen to me if I was to shoot a coyote attacking my chickens?"

Lyons resident Ellyn Hilliard, a former organic farmer, contended enforcement of a rights-of-nature comp plan provision could amount to giving government another way "to squash private property rights."

Hilliard, who's also chairwoman of the Boulder County Republican Party, said: "The primary role of government is to protect our natural rights, and not those of the ragweed."

Others speaking against putting any rights-of-nature language into the comprehensive plan included representatives of the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance, the Boulder County Horse Association and the Boulder Area Trails Coalition.

Morgan Lommele of the Mountainbike Alliance said the comprehensive plan already protects nature and Boulder County's natural environment. She said the language suggested by Boulder County Rights of Nature would "make it more difficult for people to appreciate and use public lands."

'If we're not responsible... then who is?

But Boulder Rights of Nature board member Howard Witkin accused outdoors recreational activities enthusiasts of "raising their voices against the protection of flora and fauna."

Boulder County Planning Commissioner Ben Blaugrund suggested the fears being expressed by critics of the proposed language were overblown.

The comprehensive plan "is an advisory document," Blaugrund said, and not a collection of local laws.

Planning Commissioner Doug Young asked: "If we're not responsible for the conservation of imperiled and extirpated species, then who is?"

The planning commissioners asked the county staff to fine-tune the new comp plan provision they tentatively endorsed on Wednesday.

The commission is to revisit that language and the rights-of-nature issue during a meeting in June.

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